New group would study ways to alert home-buyers of former grow-op locations

A working group will be created to come up with recommendations for how the Manitoba government can better protect consumers from unwittingly purchasing a property that once housed a marijuana grow-op or drug lab.

"This is a good step forward towards doing the right thing to better protect consumers and to help create safer, healthier communities," Manitoba Real Estate Association chief executive officer Brian Collie said today of the decision to create such a group. "We are pleased to work together to find appropriate solutions."

SUBMITTED

Although the RCMP and local police already collect information on properties where drug production activity is discovered, the MREA said details are scattered in various files and databases and not fully accessible to the public in a clear, up-to-date way.

The decision to form a working group comprised of government and real estate industry officials and experts was arrived at during a meeting Monday between MREA officials, provincial Consumer Protection Minister Ron Lemieux, and senior finance department staff.

It was decided that over the summer, government and MREA staff will look at what other jurisdictions and other real estate boards and associations are doing to address the issue. The working group will then reconvene in the fall to review the information and draw up recommendations for government.

The MREA said last month it would like to see the establishment of a central registry where consumers and real estate agents can go to see a police-generated list of properties that have been used as drug production sites. It also wants the provincial government to establish standards for how such properties should be cleaned up.

It noted the Manitoba Securities Commission requires real estate agents to disclose whenever they are aware a property was once used as a drug production site. But there are no up-to-date records available that Realtors and consumers can check for this type of information.

It said the RCMP’s registry of drug production sites isn’t updated regularly, and the Winnipeg Police Service’s registry only lists sites for one year. After that, they are dropped from the list.

History

Updated on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 12:46 PM CDT: Changes headline

12:59 PM: Corrects that group has not yet been formed

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.